Bourne Conspiracy Impressions

If you have been keeping up with the show, you would know that High Moon Studios new Bourne game, titled "The Bourne Conspiracy" has me very excited. In fact, it made my list of top 5 games coming in 2008. I have been following the title very closely because I really didn't want some game development studio ruining my favorite franchise. I was pleasantly surprised with High Moon's vampire-western game, Darkwatch that released several years ago because they managed to take a somewhat odd premise and make it entertaining. The question is what exactly would be their approach to Bourne? First of all, I think it is important to describe the direction that the studio wanted to go with the franchise. This is not a game based on the movie even though it does share many of the same moments that made the movie so enjoyable. Instead, High Moon has decided to begin their franchise by telling gamers what Bourne was like prior to the events of the books and movies. The game begins with Jason floating in the ocean without his memory but as the game progresses, certain events will trigger a flashback to a point in Jason's life before he lost his memory. This gives players a chance to see what Bourne was like when he was a fully functional weapon. The game will flesh out key moments in the movie such as the embassy escape and apartment fight while still keeping the story fresh. Yesterday, I did something that I told myself I wasn't going to do and downloaded the new demo on xbox live. I have now played through 3 of the games levels and am ready to give my initial impressions of the game. The demo included the escape from the embassy, a flashback to an airport mission, as well as a driving level.


I'm going to start with the negatives and get that out of the way first. My first complaint actually involves the hand to hand combat. While the combat is fun and rewarding, I can't help but feel like this isn't quite Bourne because we all know that Bourne would take out enemies in a matter of seconds. This really isn't bad because that kind of combat just can't be translated into a game very well so the hand to hand combat is definitely a little bit slower paced than the films. I also don't really like the way Bourne (and enemies) raise their fists to fight like they were standing up to a bully in high school, its a little bit annoying. The shooting mechanic is a little bit flawed simply because it doesn't bring much new to the table and the cross hair is a tiny dot that makes targeting a little difficult. Lastly, the driving level was a little bit crazy. It didn't do a very good job of letting you know where you were going or how to get there. The area in which you are driving also seemed a bit small. Maybe it will open up a bit more in the full game but the driving definitely left more to be desired. With that said, let me tell you why I am still very excited about this game.

Ill start with the way the game looks. The game is running on the Unreal Engine 3 so the environments look crisp and clean and are packed with a pretty good amount of detail. Most licensed games don't have much detail in the game but I am pleased to say that I am satisfied with the overall look and feel of the world. The demo begins with Bourne cornered by security guards at the American Embassy in Zurich. As the gaurds move in to apprehend him, Bourne fights back and you get your first chance to use the hand to hand combat. The X and Y buttons allow for you to deliver light and heavy attacks and pushing them in different combinations allows for some varied attacks. As Bourne fights, his adrenaline meter on the bottom right of the screen will fill up slowly. There are three tiers to the meter and once you fill up at least one tier, you can push B and unleash a "take down" move. What I like about the take downs is that they change depending on where you are in relation to the enemy or in relation to various things in your surroundings. While this fight was over in a matter of seconds in the movie, the fight can take up to a minute in the game. After all three of the guards are incapacitated, military soldiers arrive on scene and chase you through the embassy. I had a fun time navigating the level and learning the various controls. Holding the Right Shoulder button allows Bourne to sprint and tapping Y initiates the Bourne Instinct mode which highlights targets, destinations, and key items throughout the level. By performing a take down while running or as an enemy walks through a door, you can catch them off guard and deal with them rather quickly. This also introduces players to the cover system which works exactly like every other game that has been released since gears of war. Bourne will hide behind objects be give the object of leaning out and firing. I eventually encountered a high ranking officer who served as kind of a mini boss. The fight took a bit longer than most enemies and the key to success is performing take downs multiple times. One thing I noticed is that successfully performing a take down will restore a little bit of your health and countering a bosses take down will prevent them from regaining any health. While it doesn't restore much, it definitely can help get you out of a tight situation. The second level introduced the shooting mechanics as Bourne fought his way to a plane in order to prevent an escaped convict from making a get away. After making it onto the plane, you are treated to a rather challenging boss fight against the convict. While the boss fight did take several tries, the fight never went the same way twice. In the 5 or 6 tries that it took for me to bring him down, I think I witnessed 7 or 8 different take down moves that were unique to that fight. The driving level was short and didn't really impress me but It did provide a glimpse at Marie, the girl who Bourne eventually falls in love with. She was a very important character and I am very happy to see her make it into the game. I really did enjoy the demo and while I think that the game is far from perfect, I am pleased with what High Moon Studios has accomplished and I hope that the full version of the game will be just as entertaining.